


Scarlet Oblivion

by auraya



Category: Bones (TV), The Mentalist
Genre: Bombing, Case Fic, Friendly banter, Gen, Jane's usual antics, Rigsby's arson skillz, Rigsby's munchies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2014-03-16
Packaged: 2018-01-13 12:23:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1226104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auraya/pseuds/auraya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>CBI team travels to Maine to extradite a prisoner but something goes wrong. Team members may be put in harm's way. Written for Write Off on the Mentalist boards. Partial crossover with Bones, no Bones knowledge necessary.</p><p>Originally posted at ff.net on 3/20/09.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unexpected

CBI Agent Wayne Rigsby shifted once again in his seat. No matter how much he kept moving he could not get comfortable. Cho glanced up from his book slightly irritated. Rigsby had been moving around for the last half hour, and it was making it impossible to keep concentrating on his book.

"Do you mind?" Cho asked exasperated.

"Oh, sorry." Rigsby apologized grumpily, "I just hate flying in planes, no good food, and horrible seats."

"Just sit still a little longer, we're almost at Portland International Airport. Do you want to review what we are supposed to do in Maine one more time?" Cho put his book into his bag and pulled out a brown case folder.

Rigsby began reciting, "We go into the Portland main police station where the prisoner has been transferred, pick him up and escort him back to California. We covered this with Lisbon already."

Cho shrugged wordlessly in agreement and went to go back to reading, when Rigsby continued talking desperate to keep his mind off his now grumbling stomach, "So can you believe they finally caught the Oblivion Bomber?"

"We were so close to catching him after his rampage in California, when he slipped across the border to Canada." Cho commented.

The Oblivion Bomber had bombed almost twenty buildings across California. He was aptly named; every place was obliterated after his bombs had gone off. Sadly not only were the buildings destroyed but also the lives of many innocent people within them. When another CBI team had closed in on him, he gave them the slip and crossed into Canada. Now six months later, he had been caught and was waiting for extradition to California.

"Good thing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police caught him near the Maine border, huh." Rigsby said, turning to look out the small, oval window.

Rigsby and Cho's conversation slipped back into silence as Cho continued to read and the pilot announced the final descent to the airport.

After grabbing a burger and fries at the airport for Rigsby, Cho maneuvered the rental car through the traffic to the address they had been given. The prisoner was being held at a special, individual facility. Cho pulled in front of the address, marked clearly on the curb. Both Rigsby and Cho exited the parked car, and stood there staring.

Rigsby pulled out his cell and immediately called Lisbon, "Umm, boss, it looks like we have a major problem. You, Van Pelt, and Jane need to get here right away."

Both of them still stood there shocked at the sight in front of them. The brisk wind scattered ashes around the destroyed site, spreading a burnt smell around. All was blackened and scorched to a crisp; the building had been destroyed into oblivion.


	2. Willful

After driving to the main Portland Police Station to find out what had occurred at the previous holding building site, Cho and Rigsby were told the story of the Oblivion Bomber's death. Apparently a small explosion had been set off that had quickly started a small fire and all the guards except two ran towards the sound to investigate. The two guards watching the prisoner were supposed to follow the appropriate fire evacuation plan but for some unknown reason they never appeared outside. The firemen had arrived swiftly at the scene but could not extinguish the fire due to a chemical problem. When they added water, the flames grew higher, devouring even more of the building. The signature chemical component of the Oblivion Bomber had the same effect.

Lisbon, Jane, and Van Pelt got there as soon as they could, catching the next flight out of California. The head detective, Horew, greeted them and reunited the team.

"This explosion happened 5 hours ago and by then you guys were already on your way here. Sorry we didn't contact you right away at the airport, there were some interagency communication problems." Horew explained, apologetic.

Lisbon looked rather annoyed at the detective, but didn't say anything; sadly communication problems occurred more often then most noticed.

Horew continued, "We're searching the site now. Our arson team determined that it was too dangerous to enter before and since there was no chance of survivors we were not about to go rushing in there and get some of our men killed."

"How is it even possible that a bomb was even in the building without anyone noticing?" Van Pelt voiced the question everyone wanted to ask.

Horew shrugged, "No one knows, all the cameras have been destroyed so until we find the point of origin…"

Jane had been wandering slowly in a circle around the group, hands in his pockets, when he remarked, "Well, in the future don't make your holding places out of wood. They'll be less likely to burn."

Horew glared at him, about to say something about his smart comment, when Lisbon intervened quickly, "Thanks for your help, please let us know how many bodies are discovered. There should be three, right? Two guards and the Oblivion Bomber?"

"Yeah. Are you taking point in this investigation?" Horew asked a bit irritated that he was being dropped out of the investigation.

"Yes, we'll keep you in the loop. It was our prisoner and it is his signature bomb. We are most familiar with the case." Lisbon informed him, clearly telling him she had the final word.

Horew gave in without a fight; he had other cases to work on and left them alone in a conference room.

"Theories?" Lisbon inquired of her team.

"There was obviously an accomplice; someone had to set the bomb. The Oblivion Bomber was heavily under guard, there's no way he got a bomb into the building." Cho said.

"That means the Oblivion Bomber had an accomplice all along and we never even knew." Rigsby shook his head in disgust at the previous team's lack of success with the case.

"So why were there no guards outside that noticed the accomplice coming to plant the bomb?" Van Pelt asked, puzzled.

Lisbon responded, "Because of the threat risk from the public, we wanted to make sure he made it to his trial alive. There are already hordes of people demonstrating in front of the main jail. That means only a select few even knew that the Oblivion Bomber was being held there."

Lisbon turned around looking for Jane; there had been a scarcity of know-all statements in their conversation. Her eyes fell on the blond-headed consultant reclining in a chair, his eyes staring off into the distance and slowly closing.

"Jane! Sleep later; you'll just have to fight against the jet lag. Any comments to solve the case for us?" she joked, smirking.

Jane's eyes popped fully open and he immediately jumped to his feet, "Not yet, now we need to go to the scene of the crime."

He began to walk out of the room when Lisbon called him back, "It's too dangerous, we have to wait for the all clear from the arson team."

"Poppycock. Rigsby here is a fine arson investigator and if need be we'll don protection gear." he shouted over his retreating shoulder.

Lisbon sighed heavily as she and the rest of the team, hurried to catch up.

The yellow crime scene tape fluttered in the cool Maine breeze as several people in firemen suits were combing through the ashy, charred remains. A medical examiner's van was parked nearby along with a fire truck. Upon the team's arrival they had also been given suits. After donning the clunky safety gear, Rigsby left to talk to the arson team leader and to inspect the point of origin for himself.  
"Should we join Rigsby?" Van Pelt asked worried, she had not worn digging shoes and trying to walk through burnt wood in high heels was not a good idea.

"Stay out of that mess. Only Rigsby has permission to go inspect. I don't want to have to explain to Minelli why one of you is injured. Okay Jane?" she asked looking for a confirmation that especially he would follow her orders.

"Jane?!" Lisbon called out looking around for him but Jane had already rapidly disappeared into the crowd of people examining the blast site.

"Urgg!" she groaned frustrated, pulled on gear and went to try and find him. She wished for once that Jane would listen to her. Not everything she said was unimportant.

Both Van Pelt and Cho just looked at each other; it was such a typical Jane move. A man approached them and as he pulled off his helmet, they realized that it was Rigsby.

"Van Pelt, do you have-" he began when she held up her hand to stop him and started rummaging through her bag.

"Ah-ha!" she announced triumphantly, holding a peanut snack bag. "It's left over from the plane flight. You were about to ask me if I had any food right?"

"Uh, yeah, thanks." Rigsby replied a bit startled that she knew him that well. "Where's Lisbon?" he asked opening the crinkly bag.

"Berating Jane." Cho pointed at Lisbon who had managed to find Jane amongst the others. His tell tale hair peeking out from underneath his helmet might have helped.

"Jane, why do you always wander off?! Don't you hear a word I say?" Lisbon yelled at him.  
Jane just smiled in response, its radiance stopping Lisbon's tirade. "Relax, woman, this is just how my mind works. I have to be part of the crime scene to understand what happened."

She reluctantly ended her speech; she could only attempt to win against Jane's logic. Lisbon saw that Rigsby had rejoined Cho and Van Pelt. She grabbed Jane's arm, and physically dragged Jane over to them. Van Pelt and Rigsby suppressed smiles, seeing their small statured boss manhandle Jane was an amusing sight. Jane allowed himself to be pulled along; he figured he had annoyed his boss enough for ten minutes. Both of them removed their helmets and placed them on the ashy ground.

"What did you find out Rigsby?" Lisbon asked, slightly breathless, her dark hair falling out of her normally neat ponytail. Dragging Jane was hard work.

"Tom, the lead for the arson team, told me that the bomb was placed by the back exterior of the building. It was a secondary explosive; with a blasting cap containing a very small amount of lead azide. It was definitely set off remotely, part of a detonator was found nearby. The chemical that reacted so explosively with water was sodium; it was kept separate from the lead azide to stop it from making a new compound. At least that's what they have figured out here at the scene. Tom said they'll know more after more testing back at the lab." Rigsby updated team, sharing all his information.

"This accomplice certainly knew what he was doing. He planted the bomb outside-no guards, knew his chemicals and how to build a bomb that detonated properly." Van Pelt commented, slightly impressed by his talent.

Meanwhile Jane, after absorbing all this, had started to drift back towards the wreckage. Something had caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.

Lisbon noticed, followed him popping on her helmet, while muttering, "Oh, no you don't Jane."

"Lisbon!" he called anxious and completely solemn.

Now she was really worried and she rushed over to him. Jane was kneeling down, his gloved hand pointing at a bone fragment beneath some rubble.

Lisbon gave a shout to the arson team, as Jane said "This must be one of the victims." and made to prod the bone.

"Do not touch!" came an extremely stern and serious voice from somewhere above his head.

Jane peered up to meet the strong gaze of an auburn haired woman standing there in a blue protective suit, her hair in a bun, accenting her prominent cheekbones.


	3. Close Call

"Excuse me and you are?" Lisbon asked, wondering what this woman was doing at a crime scene.

"She's the forensic anthropologist from the Jeffersonian." Jane stated in his it's obvious, can't you see it voice.

"Yes, that's correct." she remarked, quite impressed, "How did you know?"

"It says Jeffersonian on your suit; you showed up by the bones thus anthropology. Plus they always bring in a specialist when it comes to high profile cases." Jane explained easily.

"Quit showing off Jane." Lisbon told him and turned to the lady, "I'm Agent Lisbon from the California Bureau of Investigation, and this is Patrick Jane, a consultant."

"I'm Dr. Brennan." she told them and crouched down next to Jane, ready to analyze the bones. "Camera." Brennan demanded her hand outstretched.

Jane grabbed a camera from a passing member of the arson team, oblivious to his cries of surprise and handed it to her. Brennan snapped a few pictures, documenting the scene before stowing the apparatus in her kit. She then gently began clearing pieces of debris from the area surrounding the skeleton.

"So have you found any other remains yet?" Lisbon inquired.

"Just one, a male, mid 30s to early 40s. We were using ground sonar to locate the bodies; this is the only other one." Brennan told her, continuing to free the bones from the wreckage.

"Only two?" Lisbon asked puzzled, "There should be at least three."

"Obvious, one of the three supposedly dead people did not die. My bet's on the Oblivion Bomber." Jane said.

Brennan ordered a gurney to be carried over and she laid all the bone fragments upon it. The other set of remains had already been loaded in the medical examiner's van. Jane and Lisbon followed Brennan and the bones off of the wreckage site, as the rest of the team stood nearby watching.

"Bones!" shouted a well-statured man, approaching the M.E.'s van. "What do you know?"

"This is also a male, approximately the same age as the other victim." she told him and then suddenly remembered to introduce him to the others, "Agent Lisbon, Mr. Jane, this is Special Agent Booth from the FBI."

Lisbon let a quick, slight expression of surprise cross her face at the name FBI, before she stated, "FBI? We are the lead on this investigation."

"Don't worry; I'm not here to take the case. I'm just gonna make sure Bones, uh, Dr. Brennan, here, doesn't get bumped out of her share of the case evidence." Booth said reassuringly.

Lisbon introduced the rest of the team once they walked over and everyone agreed to meet later at the morgue to discuss Dr. Brennan's findings.

"The first victim, I have conclusively identified as the first guard, Mr. Steve Brown. His dental records match and the bones and Mr. Brown's records reflect him having a recently healed radius." Brennan informed the CBI team, standing next to the stainless steel metal table in the morgue.  
"The second victim is the second guard, Mr. Frank Tattum. Once again the dental records are a match. Both victims died as a result of the explosion. It appears that they suffered multiple fractures as the building collapsed on them." she continued.

Suddenly Lisbon's cell phone rang, its tone echoing throughout the room.

"Excuse me a moment." she said stepping outside into the hallway.

Jane moved off to the side next to Cho and Rigsby, "Pay up, please." He stuck his hand out, smirking as they both stuffed money into it.

"When are we going to learn not to bet against Jane?" Rigsby asked shaking his head.

"There was no way he could have known that the Oblivion Bomber's body would be the missing one, it was a lucky guess." Cho told him.

Lisbon came swiftly back into the morgue, "Let's go. They found another body at a house." She paused a moment before saying, "Dr. Brennan, Agent Booth, you are both welcome to come with us."

"Sure." Booth agreed and they followed the CBI team, Brennan stripping her gloves and grabbing her kit on the way out.

Van Pelt rejoined everyone in the house, saying "The cop out front said the family came home early from vacation today and found the body."  
"He was killed at point blank; the gun is laying over there." Booth said pointing under the kitchen table to a Glock.

"That's what the LEO said too, he also said to rule out suicide, they swabbed his hands and got an interesting result. It tested positive for explosives." Van Pelt elaborated.

"So then this guy is the accomplice." Rigsby said his hand straying to his pocket where he had stashed some French fries courtesy of Portland Police.

Cho answered sarcastically, "Well he's not the Oblivion Bomber."

Brennan lifted the victim's arm with her gloved hand, and commented "Rigor mortis has barely begun. He was most likely killed around eight hours ago. You'll need a coroner though to give an accurate time of death with a liver probe, I only deal with bones."

While the group stood in the kitchen discussing, Jane wandered around the house looking at the pictures. One of them clearly stood out from the rest, its frame was different, even the quality of the photo was unique. He lifted it off the wall and read several numbers off the back. He could still feel something not right with the house. He lay down on the floor to stare at the ceiling and concentrate when he noticed it. There was a small device taped to the bottom of the wooden coffee table and the red seconds were counting down.

"Run, there's a bomb!" he shouted loudly to the others in the kitchen and ran out behind them.

The entire group made it outside and all the way across the lawn when the bomb exploded. Everyone hit the ground as the shockwave went out and pieces of debris fell around them. Slowly, they picked themselves off the ground, stunned.

"Is anyone hurt?" called out Lisbon, brushing herself off.

As a chorus of no's reached her, she sighed relieved. "Jane, you still have your sight?" she asked concerned, remembering what happened in the last explosion.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine, don't fuss." came his reply from around the side of the house.

"Jane?! What are you doing now?" Lisbon exclaimed exasperated by Jane's antics. She pursued his voice back to the source.

"I found a clue!" he said triumphantly, holding up a slightly charred photo.

"It's just a picture from the house, let's go before the rest of the house falls down and crushes us." she glared at him, "Don't make me drag you again!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming. This is all the evidence I need."

Jane and Lisbon hurried to the front of house and across the street as distant sirens filled the air.

"Rigsby, what's your take?" Lisbon inquired after once again checking everyone for visible injuries.

"The bomb definitely malfunctioned. From what Jane described, it should have done a lot more damage, the house is even still standing." Rigsby concluded his eyes scanning the remaining shell of the house.

"I will once again examine the lasting skeletal fragments and transport them to DC. My identifications expert should be able to reconstruct his facial structure and identify this accomplice's name." Brennan told everyone definitively.

"Alrighty, let's ship those bones back to the Jeffersonian." Booth said and went to instruct the newly arrived emergency responders on what happened and what to do with the remains.

Van Pelt and Rigsby moved further away from the group to achieve a semblance of privacy when Rigsby suddenly hugged her, saying "I'm really glad you're okay.", his eyes starting to mist a little.

Van Pelt, a little shocked at the display of emotion, hugged him back, telling him the same thing. Once again they had a narrow brush with death. They both stared into each other's eyes remembering how close they had already gotten to a kiss, when Jane shouted one of his spontaneous explanations.

"I know where the next bomb will be!"


	4. Hunting

"What do you mean Jane?" Lisbon urgently asked. If there was another bomb about to go off, she needed to know where it was right away.

"I don't know exactly where it is." he admitted sheepishly, "But I do know how to find out."

"Explain, Jane, what are you waiting for? The next bomb to go off?" Lisbon questioned impatiently, her face scowling.

"It has everything to do with this picture." Jane held up the photo he had found after the bomb exploded.

"Oh, that's right! The Oblivion Bomber left a clue from the next place he was going to hit in each location he bombed." Cho remembered thinking back to the case file.

"Except the clues were extremely hard to decipher and mostly destroyed from the bomb. That's why it never helped us before." Rigsby added.

"Ah, but you forget about Van Pelt." Jane smiled charmingly in Van Pelt's direction.

"Me? What can I do?" she replied rather dazzled.

"These numbers were written on the back before they were burnt off, 5670045. Scan the photo and find where it came from." Jane handed her the photo as she turned to her laptop and portable scanner in the back of the car.

Jane bored, decided to watch as Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth, finished removing the body from the bomb scene. The M.E.'s van drove away and the both of them approached a black SUV as a few snippets of conversation blew with the chilly autumn wind over to his ears.

"Booth, are you going to let me drive? You must be exhausted after driving all around here and this isn't even your car, it's a rental." Brennan cajoled, a half smile gracing her face.

"No, Bones, no matter how many times you ask, it's gonna be no." Booth told her in return, opening the driver's side door.

"We have had this conversation before. I am not challenging your masculinity or your position as the alpha male. I am merely stating that you can offer to let me drive the car. It's not even yours so your male pride over controlling your car is not applicable here."

They continued bantering in a playful manner as they both entered the car, Brennan in the passenger side. Jane regarded them rather amused; they had a very interesting relationship. It was easy to tell from their behavior how close they were. He wondered how much longer they would increase the tension between them before daring to cross the invisible line dividing them. He shook his head clearing his thoughts and went back to focusing on the case at hand.

Jane made up his mind, while Van Pelt was searching for the building, to make himself comfortable. He pulled out a slightly smashed baloney sandwich from his suit pocket, laid down his suit jacket on a neighbor's yard and sat down. The sun came out from behind the clouds and warmed his face. All of a sudden Jane leaped to his feet, stuffing the remnants of his sandwich into his pocket. His face was guarded and all of his previous good humor had vanished.

"I'll be back. Call me if you need me." he said abruptly climbing into his rental car and driving off.

Lisbon looked at the retreating car, puzzled and then put it out of her mind.

"Rigsby!" Cho whispered to him and beckoned him to come over. "Did you see that expression on Jane's face?"

"No, I missed it. Do you think he's up to no good? Though I mean, when has Jane not been up to no good?"

"It's different this time. I think he remembered something about his family that told him where the bomb is." Cho hypothesized. "We have to help him."

"You're right; he's going to face that bomber alone without backup unless we find him."

Van Pelt looked up from her laptop dejectedly. She brushed a strand of red hair out of her face as she told the team, "Nothing, I found nothing. The picture must come from a building in the boondocks because it cannot be found electronically."  
Lisbon sighed heavily; Jane's so called clue had just been a dead end.

Cho elbowed Rigsby meaningfully in the side, causing him to speak up. "Uh, boss, we think Jane figured it out. He left to go trap the Oblivion Bomber in one his plans."

Lisbon made a split second decision; Jane had an annoying tendency to be right with his hunches. "Van Pelt, locate his cell. We're going to follow him."

They all piled in the remaining SUV, Van Pelt holding her laptop on her lap and giving directions.

"Oh no, we lost his signal." Van Pelt told Lisbon as they rounded a curve. They had already been driving for an hour north on a small road surrounded by pine trees.

"What do you mean?!" Lisbon yelled fretfully, "How could you lose his signal?"

Van Pelt cringed and answered Lisbon, "He must have taken his cell phone out of cell tower range."

Lisbon slammed the dashboard, frustrated. She was really worried about leaving Jane to own devices and knowing him, he would end up in a life or death situation.

"There has to be another way, right?" she pleaded, begging Van Pelt to have an idea.

"What if you look at the satellite photos of the surrounding area where we lost his signal? He has to be heading to a building and as you can see," Cho gestured at the surrounding landscape, "there are only trees."

Van Pelt nodded and her fingers flew over the keyboard.

"Eureka! There's a small inn right on the coast. The turn-off is approaching."

The SUV pulled into a gravel parking lot, containing just a few cars. A quaint inn stood in front of them, the sound of the waves and the smell of salt bombarded the team.  
"I really want to come to Maine again, not on a case. I really love it here, especially the lobster." Rigsby mused, dreaming of food and his future vacation.

"There's Jane's car." Cho pointed out stopping Rigsby's previous train of thought.

The team strapped on their bullet proof vests. If Jane had really cornered the Oblivion Bomber, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Split up and find him. Van Pelt and I will ask inside. Rigsby, Cho, check the outer buildings." Lisbon instructed and marched off, Van Pelt tailing her.

The lady at the front desk had not seen Jane and neither Cho nor Rigsby had found him either. The group congregated in the lobby, baffled. How could Jane have just disappeared?

"Excuse me." the lady receptionist spoke up. "I just remembered we do have a basement with extra rooms but since it's the off season, it's locked up."

"We'd like to check it anyway, key please." Lisbon told the women, who then led them to the basement door.

Lisbon knew that this was the last place possible to find Jane, so she put the key in the keyhole and turned. Nothing happened.

"The door must be already unlocked, that's weird." the lady commented.

"Tell everyone in the building to evacuate, we are tracking a bomber and this inn very well may be the next target. Just make sure they leave quietly." Lisbon instructed the receptionist who turned very pale and hurried away.

Lisbon drew her gun anxiously and opened the door silently. She walked quietly down the stairs, needing the element of surprise. The rest of her team followed Lisbon, guns in their hands. At the bottom of the stairs, the light was already on, illuminating a hallway filled with at least ten doors. They began opening doors methodically, covering each other with their weapons. After the fifth empty room, they heard a cry from two doors down. Lisbon decided they did not have time to wait for back up, or hostage negotiators, they needed to get Jane now. She motioned the team and they burst into the room guns drawn to find an interesting scene before them.


	5. Resolution

When Jane left the team so suddenly, he had just recalled why the photo seemed so familiar to him. The last time he had been in Maine was for a family vacation, his daughter had just been three and they really needed to get away from their regular lives. He remembered that they had stayed in a little, private inn, right next to the ocean. In the breakfast room, the same photo had hung; it was a picture of the family who had originally transformed their home into an inn. The number written on the photo he dialed during his ride to the inn. He had remembered correctly; it was the phone number for making a reservation at the inn.

He knew the rest of the team would find him some way or another and by himself he had a better chance of delaying the Oblivion Bomber. No one could resist his manipulation. It was only fitting that he would stop him from destroying the place of so many memories.

Pulling into the parking lot, he pondered where the Oblivion Bomber would choose to hide his bomb. The basement would be the obvious choice, secluded during the non tourist season. After using his credit card to pick the lock, he looked in all the rooms, trying to determine which O.B. would use. All the way down the hallway, the fifth door down, he noticed the slight noise from overhead. The boiler room resided directly above this room. Satisfied with his choice, Jane settled down hidden in the room to wait. He knew that once O.B. had started bombing again, he wouldn't be able to control his urges. He would need to bomb as soon as he could again. 

* * *

The scene before them almost seemed comical, the room was empty. Lisbon heard the sounds of a light snore emitting from behind a sofa chair in the corner of the room. She approached the corner cautiously her weapon in front of her to find: Jane. He was sitting, his head on his knees, trembling.

"Jane!" Lisbon said, shaking him quietly, awakening Jane from his nightmare.

Jane awoke with a start, "Uh, what, huh?" He took a moment to compose himself, "No? I fell asleep?" he asked with incredulity.

"Don't worry, he hasn't shown up yet. I guess the jet-lag got to you after all." Lisbon teased, poking him lightly

"You scared us. We heard a cry and thought…" Van Pelt told Jane, still fretting about what could have happened.

"So what makes you think he'll hit this room anyway?" Rigsby asked.

Jane pointed towards the ceiling, and said "Hush." After a moment of silence, he explained, "You hear that noise? It's the boiler, for the biggest explosion he would need to strike here. He could come any minute now."

Lisbon started giving out orders, "Van Pelt, you take Jane's spot behind the chair. Contact me when he's in the room."

"Yes, boss." Van Pelt responded and pushed Jane out of the corner.

"Cho, Rigsby, and I will hide in separate rooms and apprehend the Oblivion Bomber when you give us the okay Van Pelt. Jane, you will go and wait outside by our car."

Jane opened his mouth when Lisbon cut him off, "No, buts, you're a civilian and I can't have you getting hurt. Now get out!"

Lisbon, Rigsby, and Cho split up into different rooms, as Jane strolled down the hallway back towards the stairs, whistling innocently. As soon as he heard the doors shut, he turned right back around and walked quietly into a random room.

"Hello Cho." Jane said smiling brightly, just his luck he picked the room with Cho within it.

"Jane, aren't you supposed to be in the parking lot?" Cho asked a bit sarcastically, since when had Jane done anything he was supposed to?

Jane sat down next to Cho on the soft bed as they both passed the time; a quiet creaking filled the room.

"Could you please stop bouncing?! I feel like I'm a little kid again."

"Sorry." Jane told him and stopped, it was the least he could do to thank Cho for supporting him.

Van Pelt's signal came a couple minutes later and the rest of the team burst into the room. Jane waited inside his room to avoid Lisbon's wrath and steely-eyed glare. It would make the most hardened criminal shake in his shoes.

The Oblivion Bomber surrendered rather easily, it seemed he knew his time was up. Cho handcuffed him and escorted him to the SUV along with Van Pelt, when Jane stuck his head in the doorway and piped up, "Where's the bomb by the way?"

"I was just looking for it." Lisbon replied her eyes scanning the room. She paused a moment and then spun around, "Jane! What are you doing?"

Jane's explanation was interrupted by Rigsby's declaration, "I found the bomb, it's under this pillow.

Rigsby stood there holding the pillow, when he called out, "Uhh, Lisbon, come here. Now."

Puzzled at his tone of voice, she hurried to his side, "Damn."

A glowing panel of numbers looked up at her. He had set the bomb before he left, one minute and counting.

Lisbon grabbed her radio, and asked in a slightly panicky voice, "Van Pelt, is everyone clear of the building?"

"No, why?"

Lisbon rubbed her forehead, agitatedly, "Rigsby, can you diffuse this bomb?"

"Yes." he said confidently and then added in an undertone, "I think."

"Jane, go!" Lisbon ordered as Rigsby opened his pocket knife in preparation to cut a wire. Seventeen seconds to go.

The world seemed to slow as Rigsby slit the wire in two. Nothing happened. Lisbon sighed in relief, her body felt so much lighter. She turned to exit the room with Rigsby carrying the now diffused bomb when she caught sight of Jane's loafers peeking from around the doorframe.

"What the hell Jane? Are you planning on disobeying all my orders from now on?" Lisbon demanded angrily. He needlessly put himself in harm's way.

Jane stood up from where he was lying on the floor, "Oh come on Lisbon, relax a little. I knew Rigsby could handle it, no problem. I was just surprised it took you so long." He stuck his hands in his pockets and sauntered out of the inn leaving an infuriated Lisbon to follow.

 

* * *

After dealing with the entire bustle that came with an event like this, Lisbon looked around for Jane; it was time for them to go. She gazed over to the rocks by the beach where the sun was setting, spotting a dark figure sitting there. Something was bothering him.

"Hey." Lisbon said gently, taking a seat next to him on the rocks. She sat there patiently watching the setting sun painting a beautiful picture across the sky.

"She built a sand castle there." he said mournfully, pointing. "It was spectacular."

"She learned from the best." she smiled softly at him immediately understanding who he was talking about.

"So many memories…" Jane murmured and then got up shaking his head.

Lisbon examined him carefully; Jane's mask was already firmly set into place again. Lisbon was thankful for the small moments that Jane let it slip and allowed her in. One can only keep a certain amount bottled up before it gets to you. They began walking slowly back to the car shoulder to shoulder.


End file.
